It's an odd confession for a bike racer, the fact that I don't actually enjoy going fast. I've discovered one more reason why it appeals to me: It's slow. I'm still terrible at the technical aspects, but I'm learning to ration my energies, and several of the courses have been well suited to my inabilities. It is a smile maker.īetween us we now own 10 bikes: Two mountain bikes, three racing bikes, a track bike, a cyclocross bike, a touring bike, a fixed-gear bike and the tandem. Likewise it is impossible not to smile when you see two fools riding one down the street. There are two great things about a tandem: You cannot help but smile when you are riding it. The brakes could use some modernizing but otherwise it runs great. I still haven't taken a picture yet, but it's a 35-year-old Schwinn, canary yellow, made in Chicago. (The theme was "Scandal!" It turned out to be harder to dress for than we thought, since most scandals are perpetrated by white men in suits, and it takes a special person to make that fun.) We had way too much food and enjoyed a net gain of 12 beers.
Howard Hughes, Bob's Big Boy and disgraced NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak all showed up. Ellen was a corked bat, I the Black Sox scandal.
Once again that trip will be the official transition from winter to spring, and as each day of winter passes, I feel like I've chalked another tally on the cell wall. I've already booked my flight for spring camp in California. I have to check the time stamps to confirm that the all the photos are indeed from the same season. Cross was excellent for me, and having done it means I now go three months until my next race instead of what would have been five.Īs I browse through this season's photos, it boggles me to be reminded of all that has happened this season, from early-season concussions to mid-season tragedy, from lucky breaks to unlucky breaks. I just took the turns nice and easy, sticking a leg out when it seemed prudent, and let the people ahead of me make mistakes, which they obligingly did.Īnd so ends the 2007 season. Nobody was taking these turns very fast, and those who did did so at their peril. I had expected the snow and slush would make my handling a liability, but it proved not to be so. Seth threw snowballs to motivate me on Cricket Hill. If the race were an hour longer I might have had time to win. I don't think anyone passed me, and I must have climbed from around 20th to my eventual 11th. I'd pass one person, sprint to the next, and then spend a quarter-lap waiting for space to pass, space that was scarce on the slushy, muddy course. Instead, sans red nose, I got to my typical bad start and proceeded to spend the rest of the course picking people off. That way people would have been compelled to let me go first and guide their way. I wore antlers and had wanted to find a red nose. My nearest competitor, a teammate, was at least 5 seconds back after having wiped out on the course's last tricky turn. For the practice.Īnd so here I am, throwing to end the cyclocross season. Often it is unnecessary - I am either last in the break, or I'm well behind the field sprint, or I've been dropped - but I throw anyhow. With that advice in mind, I encourage people to throw whenever they cross the finish line, no matter where they finish, because you never know when you're about to get pipped for 27th place. Randy says to always throw your bike when you practice your sprint.
0 kommentar(er)
